


our most brilliant friends

by GhostGrantaire



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: F/M, Friendship, Gen, Ice Cream
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-10
Updated: 2017-08-10
Packaged: 2018-12-13 17:10:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,544
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11764548
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GhostGrantaire/pseuds/GhostGrantaire
Summary: “How does that not bother you?” Max suddenly blurted out loudly.  Dustin looked up at her in surprise.“The ice cream?” He asked slowly, confused.Max huffed, burying her spoon back in the vanilla sundae, which was starting to melt together with the chocolate syrup and maraschino cherries, the banana buried underneath. “The names.”





	our most brilliant friends

**Author's Note:**

> "And all our most brilliant friends are doubting themselves," -Slow Club

Days like this were what Max lived for. Days full of friends, food, and sunshine. She felt wonderfully lazy, the sun burning at her pale arms, the cool bite of the ice cream against her tongue.

Dustin looked even more relaxed somehow, eyes fixed on the cone in front of him, and the sun glinting off his hair. Max had learned quickly that despite his affection for basements and arcades, Dustin thrived in the sun. It was like they were one and the same– warm and bright. Not that she’d ever say that out loud. The boys would never let her live down a metaphor as rough as that one.

“Okay, um, Airheads or Pez?” Dustin asked as he took a bite out of his waffle cone. He’d almost finished with his ice cream already, while Max was still steadily making her way through hers.

“Airheads,” Max responded without hesitation. She took another bite of her banana split and spoke with a full mouth. “X-Men or Justice League?”

Dustin made a face at the question. “X-Men, no doubt… Um, Michael Jackson or Prince?”

“Michael,” Max answered after a moment’s thought. She was about to respond with another question when a third voice spoke up, making them both jump.

“Hey fatso!” Dustin’s eyes darted immediately to the road. Max felt her blood boil as she spotted Troy Matthews leaning out the window of an older friend’s car, laughing smugly. He glanced back at his friends. “He looked, you guys!”

Max looked back at Dustin, whose familiar smile had vanished from his face. He didn’t look scared or upset, just resigned as he watched the other kids.

“Hey Toothless, maybe you can chew on this too!” Troy called. Before either Max or Dustin could react, Troy was throwing something hard towards them. Dustin flinched as something hit his pant leg, leaning a bright pink splash, and they both stared at it, relaxing when they realized it was just a half-eaten pint of strawberry ice cream.

The car began to drive away, and Max was on her feet, grabbing her skateboard angrily. How dare they talk to him like that? She’d give those losers something to chew on for sure.

“Max,” Dustin spoke up. Her head whipped towards him quickly, but he looked completely relaxed, still sitting at the picnic table. “Don’t worry about it. They’re long gone anyway.”

Max watched in slight confusion as Dustin just bent down to pick up the ice cream. The top had fallen off, and some of the melted ice cream had spilled out, but it was still at least half-full.

“Amateurs,” he said with a chuckle. “If you’re gonna throw ice cream at someone, at least make it a cone or something.”

Dustin grabbed a napkin off the table to wipe at his jeans. “That’s definitely gonna leave a stain. But hey, free ice cream, right?”

He grinned up at her, looking as happy as he did two minutes ago, as if nothing had happened. Max frowned at him as she made her way back to the table, sitting hesitantly across from him. She still felt tense and angry, and she knew that if those douchebags came back she’d be chasing them down in a second, but Dustin seemed completely happy-go-lucky once again.

“Max, if you don’t start eating soon, I’m gonna finish this by myself,” Dustin warned. He took another bite before suddenly flinching and bringing his hands to his head. “Ah! Brainfreeze!”

Dustin squeezed his eyes shut and shook his head as if to scatter the cold from his head. His curls bounced around wildly, a sight that would usually make Max chuckle, but she barely paid attention to now. She kept frowning, staying quiet as Dustin eventually felt better and returned to his dessert.

“How does that not bother you?” Max suddenly blurted out loudly. Dustin looked up at her in surprise.

“The ice cream?” He asked slowly, confused.

Max huffed, burying her spoon back in the vanilla sundae, which was starting to melt together with the chocolate syrup and maraschino cherries, the banana buried underneath. “The names.”

Dustin relaxed, giving a nonchalant shrug. “I’ve heard worse. I don’t really care.”

“But they’re terrible to you!” Max protested. She didn’t get how he could be so chill about this. “They’re dicks, and you shouldn’t have to listen to that shit.”

Dustin frowned at her, like he was finally understanding that something was wrong. “I dunno. Everything they say is just stupid. I mean, if you want to get technical about it, he’s right. I am missing teeth, and I am chubby. They’re not even insults, really, just statements of facts.”

Max frowned at that, feeling defensive for him. “So? That doesn’t matter.”

Dustin nodded. “Exactly. That’s why it doesn’t bother me.”

Max sighed, resting her chin on her hands as she thought. She wished she could be more like Dustin, more carefree and confident, even though he never came close to seeming arrogant. He was just happy, comfortable in his own skin, and she envied that. Even now, minutes after being called fat by a bunch of losers, Dustin was still eating away at the ice cream in front of him just because he wanted to. 

“I don’t get how you do it,” Max spoke up quietly, biting her lip. “I care about everything. Every little comment, every odd glance– I can’t stop thinking about it. Everything just makes me so angry. But you just don’t care what people think. I wish I could do that.”

Dustin frowned thoughtfully, setting his spoon aside. “That’s not true. I care what people think. Just not those people.”

Max glanced up at him, pursing her lips. She looked at him with question in her eyes, waiting for him to expand.

Dustin huffed a breath, frowning as if trying to gather his thoughts. He was quiet for a second before shrugging, meeting her eyes.

“The way I see it is, I’ve got all these really great people hanging around me. I mean, I’ve got kickass friends, right? We basically saved all of those losers’ asses last year, whether they know we did or not. We saved the whole damn town.

“And even without any of that stuff, you’re all still awesome. Like, Mike’s a dork, but he’s one of the best people out there, and definitely the best Dungeon Master to ever live. And Lucas is wicked smart, and crazy brave. And Will came back from the dead and he’s still the nicest person in this town. El literally has superpowers. And Max, you’re the most badass girl in our school. Actually, scratch that, you’re the most badass _kid_ in our school.”

Max felt herself blush at that, even though she still didn’t know where this was going. Dustin continued.

“So like, why should I care about what some knuckleheads think about me when I’ve got these way better people telling me I’m pretty cool? What’s the point of having awesome friends if I’m just gonna ignore what they think and pay attention to some other losers? It seems kinda messed up to me.”

Max blinked at that. It sounded so simple when he put it like that.

“I mean, it’s not a perfect system,” Dustin concluded, giving a small shrug. “It’s not really that easy, and it still sucks sometimes. But it’s a start.”

Max felt the corners of her lips begin to pull up into a smile. Maybe there were a lot of people who overlooked Dustin and brushed him aside, but she knew how special he was.

Max jumped as Dustin leaned over and began to pour the liquid strawberry ice cream into her melting sundae. He laughed and pulled back when she swatted at him in irritation.

“Dick!” She exclaimed, though she was laughing. She looked down at her ice cream, which was now an unpleasant swirl of white, brown, and pink. After a second she grinned, looking up at Dustin, who was watching her happily.

“You know what we should do?” She asked, grinning slowly as she developed the idea.

“Mix all of the ice creams together and create one supreme milkshake and then race to finish it?” Dustin asked excitedly, a gleam in his eye.

Max nodded wildly, and they wasted no time in pouring the sundae back into the strawberry container.

“Mush up the banana more, mix it in!” Dustin exclaimed happily. “No taking out the cherry stems either, everything stays!”

“Put the rest of your waffle cone in too!” Max pointed out, grabbing at it and crumbling it in her hands, making Dustin’s eyes brighten even more.

Soon their conversation was taken over by laughter, and Max forgot all about the altercation, instead focusing on the creation in front of them.

It wasn’t until later, when they were making their way home slowly, both stuffed from ice cream, that Max brought it up one last time.

“Hey Dustin?” She said. Dustin looked over from his bike, tilting his head to the side in question. She grinned at him happily. “You’re the coolest guy I know.”

The grin she got in return was blinding, and she knew she’d been right. Dustin Henderson was pure sunshine, and anyone who couldn’t see that was an idiot.

**Author's Note:**

> Man do I love Dustin Henderson.
> 
> Come talk to me on [tumblr](http://www.ghost-grantaire.tumblr.com)!


End file.
